From CEO to Concubine-Chapter 221: Wiles
Yan Zheyun’s mind went blank. At that point, all thoughts of watching his step and making sure his enemies couldn’t get a hold of him dissolved. Before he knew it, he had sprinted towards the pond, Xiao De hot on his heels, his frantic pleas for Yan Zheyun to mind his step largely falling on deaf ears.
Liu An’s place in his heart had steadily morphed over the months. He was an adorable boy, and feeling kindness towards him wasn’t difficult. But the time spent together with Liu An in his care had shifted the trajectory somewhat. Liu An was no longer just a student or his boyfriend’s younger brother. He certainly had never been just a means of securing Liu Yao’s reign, one of an arsenal of tools they could use to gain leverage in the situation where Liu Yao was accountable for naming an heir but unwilling to produce one himself.
To hell with propriety. Liu Yao had once promised, half-teasingly and half-earnestly, that should the sky come crumbling down, Yan Zheyun ought not to despair as Liu Yao had finally obtained the Mandate of Heaven, the power to prop it back up for him.
He believed Liu Yao. Liu Yao would keep him safe, so it was up to him to keep Liu An safe in return.
The dowager’s outraged shout when Yan Zheyun abandoned all formalities and dashed towards the pond was soon lost to the wind, drowned out by the loud pounding of his heartbeat in his ears. The ponds in the imperial garden rather resembled lakes, large bodies of water that a young boy could easily lose a life in.
A small crowd had gathered by the edge by the time Yan Zheyun burst into the clearing, trampling over some lower flower beds without paying any heed to maintaining the decorum required of an empress. A quick surveillance of the scene revealed a distant patrol sprinting over and a group of ineffectual eunuchs and maids bewailing the disaster that had just occurred. They either all couldn’t swim, which wasn’t that surprising in the north where the cities—including the capital—did not have close access to natural pools of water, or they were holding back for insidious reasons.
Amidst the chaos, Yan Zheyun spotted Big Sister Mingyue and Captain Cui. Mingyue’s pale face was visibly shaken and there was a slight tremble in her hands as she gathered the willow branches Cui An handed to her to knot tightly together. Cui A was swiftly removing his hat and shoes, his jaw set into a tight line as he stared at the struggling figure in the water with despair in his eyes. It wasn’t hard to guess that he had no idea how to swim but was going to jump in anyway.
"Out of the way."
Yan Zheyun’s sudden appearance was met with astonishment. No doubt he was quite the sight, not bothering with any of the regal bearing he once forced himself to carry for reputation’s sake. The servants made to drop to their knees but he barked out an order that made them stop in their tracks.
"This is hardly the time for a greeting," he snapped. "This palace can swim, stand back."
"Fengjun..." The relief in Mingyue’s voice made it quiver. But Cui An’s brow furrowed and he took a hesitant step towards Yan Zheyun.
"Your Highness Fengjun please consider thrice," he said quietly and would probably have continued respectfully trying to dissuade Yan Zheyun from risking his life. Given that the Yan Family came from the capital and Yan Yun had led a sheltered life before becoming a slave, it was no wonder Cui An did not trust his ability to swim.
Yan Zheyun had no time to argue with him. He shoved past towards to water’s edge, removing the ornate, heavy outer robe that warded off the spring chill. The problem with ancient attire was its sheer number of layers, its endless amount of fabric. Ideally, he’d strip right down to just the innerwear trousers for ease of movement but just the outer robe was enough to elicit a sharp hiss from Cui An, who backed away like Yan Zheyun had suddenly morphed into a poisonous viper.
Behind him, he heard Xiao De splutter but paid it no mind. At the end of the day, Liu Yao was his husband. If Liu Yao didn’t mind, and Yan Zheyun was confident enough in their relationship to be certain Liu Yao wouldn’t, then he had no leeway to care either since this was an emergency.
Liu An’s thrashing in the water grew progressively weaker. Yan Zheyun ran towards him and dived in. As he hit the water, he heard the dowager cry out, "Guards, this mourner commands you to save the Ninth Prince!"
Of course. She wasn’t beyond sabotage even when a young life was at stake.
"Cui An!" Yan Zheyun gasped as he surfaced. "Don’t let anyone in!" It was one thing to remove his outer robe but once in the water, his attire would cling to his form. Should any of the guards come close to him, as they inevitably would have to if they were all headed towards the same goal, heads would roll and the morning court would be on their knees forcing the emperor to annul his marriage to an immodest wife. What was commonplace in a swimming pool would cause Liu Yao more grief than it was worth.
Without checking to see whether his order was being followed, Yan Zheyun swam as fast as he could towards Liu An. The young prince was struggling futilely, weighed down by his robes, and when he reached, it was all he could do to heft the young boy up and keep his head above water. Fortunately, there was no current to fight against. Once he’d been a proficient swimmer but this body still retained its inconvenient frail beauty traits despite his best efforts at a disciplined diet and regular exercise.
It felt like an eternity before he finally made it back on land, pushing Liu An up into Big Sister Mingyue’s waiting arms. She was already kneeling on the ground—as were Cui An and Xiao De—and they were surrounded by a patrol from the plume guard, the uncertainty on their faces evident as they kept their eyes trained on the ground. A couple of them had bruises on their faces and scuffled uniforms but in comparison, Cui An looked far worse for wear.
Right in the middle of the commotion, stood the dowager tall and proud, ice in her stare as she looked down at Yan Zheyun like she was looking at a person approaching their death. She was as livid as he was, sign enough that she wasn’t responsible for this drowning incident. He wasn’t all that surprised; if she wanted to kill Liu An, it certainly wouldn’t be in broad daylight like this where there was plenty of opportunity to rescue him.
Ignoring her glare, he turned his attention back to the boy, who thankfully, was starting to sputter water back up. Yan Zheyun firmly brushed aside the other maids who attempted to fuss over Liu An, pulling the boy into his arms and patting his back, bundling him up in the layers of robes and blankets that were being offered to him from all directions.
"Where’s the imperial physician? Has no one thought to send for one in advance?"
No one dared to reply. A look at the helplessness on Big Sister Mingyue’s face was sufficient to tell him that no one had tried to leave in the presence of the dowager. Even if she hadn’t engineered this incident herself, she certainly was more than happy to rework it to her advantage.
"The empress has lost all composure." The dowager’s frosty admonishment made Yan Zheyun’s blood boil. "Jumping in recklessly when there were guards available, improper behaviour in broad daylight in front of prying eyes, and now yelling in an unbecoming fashion. Is this how you uphold the dignity of the imperial family?" She turned to the momo who supported her arm. "Momo, send for the imperial physicians to attend to the ninth prince at once."
Yan Zheyun didn’t grace that with a response. He had nothing good to say to her.
"Xiao De, send word of what has just happened to His Majesty immediately." It hadn’t gone unnoticed to Yan Zheyun that Xiao De too was on his knees and sporting a split lip. Loyal as he was, he must have joined in the fray to protect Yan Zheyun from the prospect of further censure.
"You dare?" The momo’s interjection was grating.
"Xiao De," Yan Zheyun raised his voice over hers. It was not the gentlemanly thing to do but there was a time and place for being polite and now wasn’t it. "If anyone should attempt to stop you from letting His Majesty know that his beloved royal younger brother has met with a tragic accident, do not fret, This palace will defend you from His Majesty’s ire. After all, it wasn’t your fault, was it? This palace will ensure that you have plenty of avenues after to air your grievance about those who are so short-sighted they fail to see the urgency of the matter."
This was as close as Yan Zheyun could get to declaring war against the dowager without outright saying it.
The beautiful part of it was, with Liu An lying sickly in his arms, the dowager could hardly keep him here to reproach him.
Now he just had to keep their allies safe. Liu Yao had entrusted Mingyue and Cui An with Liu An’s well-being. It was unclear for now how the little prince had ended up almost drowning but it was hard to believe that it was due to oversight on the part of his carers. Yan Zheyun had seen the way Mingyue and Cui An treated their young charge, the love and guidance they offered him along with their company was more than a testament that they genuinely treasured him.
If he let the dowager get the upper hand here, there was no telling the state they would wind up in before he could rescue them. Yan Zheyun had to strike first.
"As the youngest and most doted upon of His Majesty’s brothers, who here does not know that His Little Highness is His Majesty’s fruit of happiness (1)? His Majesty is fearful that even the slightest harm should come to the Ninth Prince and yet, today, this has happened behind His Majesty’s back." Yan Zheyun, who was starting to shiver in the spring breeze, tightened his arms around little Liu An as he tried to keep his voice steady and project the authority he needed to settle this quickly and get Liu An a hot bath and some warm medicinal soup.
He narrowed his eyes at Mingyue and the rest of Liu An’s entourage as though he was suspicious of their intentions. Mingyue, intelligent as she was, hung her head contritely as though she was waiting for him to announce her sentence. The other servants were less able to remain calm, their faces morphing in horror as they kowtowed and begged for forgiveness.
Cui An folded into a bow. "This subordinate has failed to protect His Little Highness and should be punished."
"Indeed," was Yan Zheyun’s cold reply. "But how personally invested His Majesty would be in this case, this palace dare not take matters into my own hands." He waved a hand at the plume guards who still loitered around in trepidation. "Guards, seize them and escort them to the Department of Careful Punishment to await His Majesty’s final decision on their fate." He let his steely gaze land squarely upon them, his expression so cold that it turned the eternal spring of his beauty to the harshness of winter. "Should any of them oh so conveniently come to any sort of harm before His Majesty can judge them in person, you’ll just have to take their place to make up for it."
Perhaps there was something familiar in the frost that laced his demeanour; a pair of phoenix eyes flashed in the dowager’s mind and she took a step back, unease seizing her heart in a vice-like grip.
Yan Zheyun’s attention flitted to her. "Royal Mother, is everything all right?" he asked. "Is this child-subject’s handling of the situation to your tastes?"
The dowager didn’t reply. With one long glower at him, she turned and walked back the way she came, back straight and manner stately, as though one of her ’sons’ wasn’t freezing in front of her. Yan Zheyun’s brow furrowed. Her behaviour was odd; he’d expected her to fight him for control of Liu An’s servants, seize the opportunity to dispose of them and replace them with pawns of her own, much like how Liu Yao and he had done not too long ago.
He might be imagining things but had that been a flicker of fear he’d seen in her eyes just now?
He could ruminate on that later. Now, the main priority was caring for Liu An—before he could wave someone over to help him carry Liu An, a small tug on his robes made him look down.
Liu An was awake and...a lot more alert than he’d anticipated. The boy still had enough presence of mind to tuck the slightly guilty smile on his lips in the crook of Yan Zheyun’s arm but at the end of the day, he was a child and fretting for the carers who were now in trouble because of him.
"Pretty Big Brother..." he mumbled, not so much because he was feeling weak but because he didn’t want anyone to overhear.
And now, Yan Zheyun could be certain that most—if not all—of that drowning had been an elaborate act. And what an act it had been. The disbelief mounted in him as he stared down at Liu An’s angelic face. He couldn’t even begin to guess what was going on in that little head of Liu An’s...what means were this and to what end?
"Please don’t let Royal Big Brother punish them," Liu An pleaded quietly. "I know I didn’t think it through properly but...I wasn’t sure what else I could have done."
